On July 4, 2013,
following a month-long detention for alleged “involvement in fraud”, Chinese
authorities formally arrested Mr.Yunshaabiin Seevendoo, a respected Buddhist
figure of Right Ujumchin Banner of central Southern (Inner) Mongolia.
Mr.Sevendoo is a well known activist fighting for the rights of Mongolian
herders and an organizer of herders’ cooperatives. He is being held in the
Right Ujumchin Banner Detention Center and has been denied visitation
rights. Family members are concerned about his deteriorating health.

According to the
“Echoing Steppe”(“ceng jing cao yuan” in Chinese), an environmental group
based in Beijing run by Chinese intellectuals who were sent to Southern
Mongolian during the Cultural Revolution, Seevendoo once served the local
authorities as a “member of Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of
Shiliin-gol League and the People’s National Congress (PNC) of Right
Ujumchin Banner”.

In 2008, in his
capacity as member of CPPCC and PNC, Seevendoo sent out an open letter to
all Gachaas (“Gachaa” is rural Mongolian administrative units, consisting of
several villages) across Southern Mongolia and urged the Mongolian herders
to obtain the “Collective Land Ownership Certificate” in accordance with the
Chinese constitution and Land Management Act to defend their grazing lands
collectively from government and corporate encroachment.

“Dear Gachaa leaders
and People’s Committee representatives, I am sorry that I can’t greet you
happily as all of China is celebrating the New Year. The reason why I am
sending out this letter is that as you all have been witnessing, our once
beautiful grasslands have been suffering heartbreaking destruction;
injustice has been widespread due to illegal land expropriation; herders
have been thrown into a desperate economic situation due to that fact that
they were forced to give up their traditional pastoralism,” Seevendoo
started his open letter dated January 12, 2008. “Let all Gachaas rise up and
mobilize ourselves to obtain our ‘Collective Land Ownership Certificates’!
Let us trust our people power and power of law!” Seevendoo rallied the
Mongolian herders at the end of his letter.

In the same year,
Seevendoo provided legal consultation to the herders’ communities of Right
Ujumchin Banner and assisted the majority of Gachaas of the Banner to obtain
their “Collective Land Ownership Certificates”.

In 2009, Seevendoo was
elected as the Head of Saruulbulag Gachaa, Khaan-uul Sum (a sum is
equivalent to township) of Right Ujumchin Banner through direct votes by the
herders.

In 2010, Seevendoo
organized the local herders and established a cooperative for hay cutting
and hay storage.

In 2012, Seevendoo
organized more than 20 herders and established another cooperative called
“Taliin Bogdo Cooperative” to collectively manage meat storing and selling
without going through third parties.

Sevendoo’s activities
promoting herders’ self-organization, self-empowerment and his out-spoken
criticism of the Chinese authorities’ illegal land expropriation put him at
high risk for harassment and ultimate retaliation from local officials and
the government.

According to the South
China Morning Post (SCMP) that interviewed Seevendoo in person last year,
Seevendoo was previously also arrested for “compiling, printing and
distributing illegal publications”. “The unlawful publications seized by
police were pamphlets of Chinese laws translated by Echoing Steppe into the
Mongolian language,” the SCMP article said.

The article also
mentioned Seevendoo’s direct confrontation of local officials and mining
company representatives who attempted to seize the Mongolian herders’
grazing land. “Furious, Siendo [Seevendoo] threw the constitution in the
official’s face. ‘What you just said is enough to put you in jail for up to
10 years,’ he said. Shocked and humiliated, the official and mining company
employee left hastily and never returned.” (See SCMP original article
entitled “Lama helps herdsmen with earthly knowledge” dated July 19, 2012).

On July 4, 2013,
Seevendoo was officially arrested for the “crime of fraud”, according to the
arrest warrant (see the picture) issued by the Right Ujumchin Banner Public
Security Bureau and delivered to Seevendoo’s wife Ms. Hongmei. The warrant
did not give out the details of the crime.

To obtain further
details of Seevendoo’s current status, the Southern Mongolian Human Rights
Information Center (SMHRIC) was able to interview Seevendoo’s wife Hongmei
over the phone.

“My husband is still
being held in the Ujumchin Banner Detention Center. I was given an arrest
warrant without any further details of the alleged crime. I and my two
children were allowed to visit him only once a month ago,” Hongmei told
SMHRIC over the phone.

“I am really concerned
about his health. He had a serous kidney problem and had been in medication
until his arrest. The condition at the detention center is terrible, and he
has no access to any medical treatment. During my visit last month I noticed
his health was deteriorating,” Hongmei, a helpless herdswoman, expressed her
concern about her husband’s failing health.

Seevendoo's open letter and "Collective
Land Ownership Certificate" (photo courtesy of "Echoing Steppe")